The invention described and claimed herein relates to the following United States patent applications, which are incorporated by reference.
xe2x80x9cProgrammable Compensation and Frequency Equalization for Network Systems,xe2x80x9d having Ser. No. 09/05,368, filed Feb. 26, 1998 and having inventors Marwan A. Fawal, Burton B. Lo and George Kwan, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,252,532.
xe2x80x9cLow Power Buffer System for Network Communications,xe2x80x9d having Ser. No. 09/0382,368 filed Feb. 26, 1998, and having inventors Marwan A. Fawal, Burton B. Lo and Anthony L. Pan, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,135.
xe2x80x9cNetwork Communications Using Sine Waves,xe2x80x9d having Ser. No. 08/866,566, filed May 30, 1997, and having inventors Marwan A. Fawal and Burton B. Lo. now U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,382
xe2x80x9cIsolation and Signal Filter Transformer,xe2x80x9d having Ser. No. 08/641,375, filed Apr. 30, 1996, and having inventors Marwan A. Fawal, Anthony L. Pan, Eric R. Davis and Richard S. Reid, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,199.
a. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of network systems. In particular, the invention relates to a systems for reducing electromagnetic interference emissions in network interfaces.
b. Background Information
Ethernet is an industry standard (e.g., IEEE 802.3 specification) method of communicating between various devices and a local area network. For example, a computer includes a network interface card (NIC) that formats Ethernet data for transmission onto a network cable. The network cable carries the Ethernet formatted packets out to the rest of the network. The data signal is generated to comply with a particular specification for that type of Ethernet communications. For example, the Ethernet data signal might be generated to comply with the ANSI/IEEE standard 802.3 Ethernet voltage template. This voltage template applies to five and ten MHz frequency components of Ethernet data communications. Complying with the voltage template ensures that the NIC will not damage other devices connected to the cable, and ensures that other devices will be able to properly receive and decode the signals from the NIC.
One prior art NIC is shown in FIG. 1. This NIC is available from 3COM Corporation, of Santa Clara, Calif. The NIC 100 is for generating the transmit signal 130 which corresponds to an Ethernet transmit signal. The transmit signal 130 is generated to support Manchester encoding of the Ethernet data. The transmit signal 130 is a combination of two other signals, a data signal and a pre-emphasis signal. The pre-emphasis signal adds a slight step to some of the waves in the transmit signal 130.
The transmit signal 130 is created from four output signals from the Ethernet controller 101. The Ethernet controller 101 is responsible for generating the pre-emphasis signal and the data signal. The combinations of these signals is eventually transmitted as the transmit data plus (TDP) 112 and the transmit data minus (TDM) 114. Between the Ethernet controller 101 and the transformer 120 is a filter circuit that filters and combines the four output signals from the Ethernet controller 101 into the transformer 120. (The transformer 120 is for electrical isolation and includes a seven pole filter.) The transformer 120 is available from Valor Corporation.
As part of the FCC""s electromagnetic interference regulations, the NIC 100 must not emit an amount of electromagnetic radiation above a preset limit. The FCC and CISPR-B specifications, for example, limit the radiation from the NIC 100. Importantly, any harmonic output above the fundamental frequency must be less than twenty-seven DATABASE below the output at the fundamental frequency. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to reduce the amount of these high frequency components.
One problem with the NIC 100 is that the environment in which the NIC operates varies considerably (e.g., the temperature changes, the load on the wire changes, variations in the manufacturing processes, power supply variations). This variation can result in a change in the transmit signal 130. For example, the temperature of the NIC 100 can significantly change the signal strength of the transmit signal 130. The variation also arises as a result of manufacturing differences between different NICs 100. This variation is undesirable in that it is difficult to meet the electromagnetic interference specification requirements while maintaining the desired output levels for the transmit signal 130. Therefore it is desirable to have some form of control over these output values.
Also, it is desirable to reduce the filtering requirements after the output of the Ethernet controller 101. Reducing the filtering requirements can reduce the component count of the NIC 100. This may significantly reduce the manufacturing costs of the NIC 100.
A network interface using filters to reduce the electromagnetic interference emissions is described.
One embodiment of the invention includes a network interface card with an Ethernet controller circuit. The Ethernet controller circuit generates an Ethernet output signal that includes a pre-emphasis component and a data component. The Ethernet controller circuit monitors the Ethernet output signal and adjust the levels of the pre-emphasis component and the data component to reduce the electromagnetic interference caused by the network interface card but still fit the requirements for valid Ethernet signals.
In some embodiments, the Ethernet controller includes a control circuit, two integrators, two programmable digital to analog converters, and an adder circuit. The control circuit receives feedback from the output of the Ethernet controller and generates control signals for the digital to analog converters. These control signals adjust the levels of a data signal component and a pre-emphasis signal component to produce an acceptable Ethernet signal and function as a wave shaping circuit to reduce the electromagnetic radiation from the network interface card. The outputs of the integrators are fed to the digital to analog converters. The outputs of the digital to analog converters are fed to the adder circuit. The adder circuit adds the two components to produce the Ethernet output signal.
In some embodiments, NMOS transistor buffers are used to buffer the output of the network interface card. The NMOS transistor buffers receive the output of the adder circuit and drive a transformer. In some embodiments, the transformer provides additional filtering capabilities. The NMOS transistor buffers allow for low power consumption while the monitoring by other elements in the network interface card provide for output controllability.
Although many details have been included in the description and the figures, the invention is defined by the scope of the claims. Only limitations found in those claims apply to the invention.